US charges 17 Iranians in cyber campaign targeting universities, including Israeli schools

The U.S. Justice Department has charged 17 Iranians in a cyber-theft campaign that allegedly stole 31.5 terabytes of academic data and intellectual property from hundreds of universities worldwide, including Israeli institutions. The 14-count superseding indictment, unsealed in Manhattan federal court, names members of the Iran-based Mabna Institute, accused of conducting cyber intrusions on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other Iranian government clients. The campaign, which ran from approximately 2013 to December 2017, targeted over 100,000 professor accounts globally, compromising about 8,000 accounts at 144 U.S. universities and 178 international universities. The stolen material included journals, theses, and e-books across various fields, with U.S. universities spending over $3.4 billion to access similar data. The operation also targeted private sector companies, government agencies, and organizations like the United Nations, and included an alleged extortion attempt against HBO in 2017. John A. Eisenberg, assistant attorney general for National Security, stated, "The superseding indictment alleges that, at the behest of entities including the IRGC, these defendants hacked into universities and other research institutions worldwide." The defendants face charges including conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and wire fraud, and the State Department is offering up to $10 million for information leading to the location of five defendants.